For the third year in a row, Paris Photo will feature a dedicated Digital Sector curated by Nina Roehrs. To cover the event, from November 12th to 16th, NFT Morning is interviewing key galleries and artists.
Adam Berninger, founder of HEFT, presents the gallery’s curatorial focus: supporting artists who work with algorithmic systems, AI, and mechanical processes to expand the language of photography. For Paris Photo, HEFT showcases a series titled “Artificial Portraiture,” exploring the representation of the human face in the age of machine learning. The booth also includes collaborations such as Edward Burtynsky x Alkan Avcioglu, and an interactive installation by Luke Shannon, where visitors can generate images in real time using a large-scale scanner.
Ganbrood introduces The Second Gaze, a reinterpretation of Steve McCurry’s iconic Afghan Girl. His piece raises critical questions about authorship, ethics, and the reproduction of cultural imagery, drawing parallels between photographic exploitation and AI’s reappropriation of visual identity.
Sarp Kerem Yavuz discusses his AI-generated portraits envisioning a queer and modern Ottoman Empire — scenes that could not be photographed in today’s Turkey. His work confronts the biases of generative tools like Midjourney, while reclaiming the aesthetic vocabulary of classical photography and Orientalist painting.
Together, the discussion reflects on how AI and photography share a historical parallel — both have challenged artistic authorship and the notion of creative labor in their respective eras. As Nina Roehrs points out, the Digital Sector at Paris Photo aims to bridge traditional photography and digital creation, expanding the very definition of what an image can be today.
Ganbrrod - The Second Gaze (2025)
Sarp Kerem Yavuz’s digital portraitures
More :
HEFT Gallery Website
HEFT Gallery on twitter
Ganbrood on Twitter
Sarp Kerem Yavuz Insta
